Euphoria
by FrenchGold
Summary: TITLE MAY CHANGE! Gold was locking up his shop one evening, like any other day. But the storm raging outside told him otherwise. RUMBELLE!


_Hey guys, well as you know I am currently writing a fanfiction for Harry Potter but I have been distracted. This fanfiction is going to be written by myself and my friend Rowan. We adore Rumbelle fic's so we're writing our own *Wink* _

_The story will alternate authors every chapter. We hope you enjoy our story. Please review with your thoughts. _

_Neither Rowan or I own Once upon a time. _

_We do not own any characters or anything to do with the tv series. _

_Belle is 18 and Mr. Gold is 47. _

_Granted the age difference may be uncomfortable for some readers but we decided to take this risk to see if we could pull it off. Enjoy. _

…_.._

Gold was about to close up shop for the day. It was ten to eight but something about the raging storm outside told him that nothing could be important enough for people to leave their homes in this squall. The whole town had turned off the lights and resorted to candles. Gold made his way around the store, putting out the candles as he went.

As a flash of lightening tore through the sky, illuminating the windows, the front door opened and a bell tolled alerting Gold that someone was in his store.

"I am sorry dearie but the shop is closed" he announced, not even bothering to turn to face the customer. Hearing no reply, he turned to face them.

….

It was a night not too dissimilar to many others in Storybrooke. The raging storm overhead, though fearsome, was not uncommon for the time of year and residents of the town had become accustomed to such storms. Indeed most were inside, except for a lone figure on the deserted high street.

She ambled, rather than walked, and her tranquil expression was reminiscent of a stroll on a summer's day and neither the forks of lightning nor the hammering rain seemed to disturb her, though she was not in the slightest dressed for the weather. Her usually copper hair had turned near pitch black in the rain and almost entirely obscured her face, leaving only her strikingly blue eyes peering from behind the unruly matted tendrils. Her slight figure was adorned with only a blue cotton sundress which was rendered translucent by the raindrops the size of golf balls that attacked her persistently. Her white shoes were saturated with water.

Suddenly, she stopped abruptly and drew closer to a shop window. Inside was a frenzy of trinkets, knick-knacks, keepsakes and various articles however what drew her attention was a large item, partially obscured by two sinister-looking dolls. A spinning wheel. Inexplicably, she felt that this was where she belonged; this was her home and could not tear herself away from the window. Despite the closed sign in plain sight on the door, she turned the handle and entered the pawn shop

…..

A sudden gust of wind blew through the door of Gold's pawn shop. Darkness ensued and the only light was the frequent flashes of lightening. Gold used his trusted cane to lead the way across the shop floor, waving it before his feet, checking for any obstructions in his walkway. "Damn this storm!" he cursed under his breath as he searched his pockets for a box of matches. He pulled the box from the pocket of his finely tailored suit trousers and fiddled with the box for a few moments before he struck a match. The light illuminated his face as he reached for the candle and lit it. HE lit several other candles then slammed the door shut; the whole time, not turning to his guest.

"If you are going to come in to my shop, would you kindly make sure the door is shut? There are some valuable things on the shelves and a gust like that could knock several of them off and wipe away all value" He snapped bitterly.

Gold opened his eyes and instantly regretted it as they fell upon the young woman stood in the corner of his shop. She was not facing him but he could still tell who she was all by her profile, that beautiful profile he had missed for so long. As the young woman turned to face him, her gaunt, pale, rain drenched face shocked him. His rose cheeked, blue eyed beauty was now pale and her once lively eyes were hollow and frightened.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause any damage" her voice reflected her eyes. Hollow.

"That's perfectly alright dearie" he spoke softly as he approached her carefully as not to intimidate the poor girl "what's a slip of a girl like yourself doing out in a storm?" He reached out his hand to her, beaconing her to come closer. The young girl reached out her hand and took Gold's in her own. He led her away from the corner and towards a candle with the intention of getting a better look at her face. He eyed her carefully, drinking in every detail, the curl of her lips, the deep blue of her eyes, and the untamed curl of her mussed hair that was plastered to her scalp by the rain. Everything was so familiar, yet so altered. She couldn't have been more than eighteen years old which worried Gold. The poor girl was thin and sickly, not something that should be associated with a young woman such as herself.

"What's your name dearie?" the question was idiotic from his point of view but he couldn't risk confusing her even more than she already was.

"Rosaline French." She uttered shying away from the older man's gaze.

"Miss French" he smiled warmly. Something not commonly associated with Mr Gold. "I'm not sure if you know me already, but I am Mr Gold."

Rosaline nodded "Mr Gold, I know this sounds a bit…forward. But do you have a place where I could dry off and get warm? I have nowhere to go now and this is my only set of clothes" her voice trailed off as she pleaded.

"Come with me dearie. I'll get you dried off and warm. You can have a bath and a bed for the night." He said as he hobbled around the shop putting out all the candles as he went. "There's a cloak in the back of the door. Put that on, don't want you catching a cold dearie" Rosaline nodded as she reached for the dark cloak, the material felt soft under her fingers. She grasped the heavy cloak and draped it over her shoulders, pulling it closely together.

"We'll journey out to the car then we'll get you home and dry"

….

_What do you think? Shall we continue? _

_Please review giving us an idea of what you guys enjoyed. _

_Mwuah! xxx_


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